Reliving Nightmares
by Misanthropic Sycophant
Summary: After feeling the corrosive words of Aoyagi Seimei ripping into their bond, Yoji can't help but feel inferior and useless as a part of Zero...What will Natsuo do to cheer him up? Shonen-ai, Zero, NatsuoXYoji, YojiXNatsuo, One-shot


_His smell, his aura…_

_He's ice cold._

_He's too different…_

…_too dark._

_Hid mere presence…is dimming the lights._

_I feel as if I'm going to fall to my knees._

_It's as if his presence is erasing my presence!_

_I feel…pressure...The bastard is applying unbelievable pressure…_

_Our words don't reach him…__**but his words lacerate us.**_

_He acts like he's just making conversation, but I…_

_I can't stand it._

_**I feel like my eardrums are going to burst.**_

_**I feel sick.**_

"You are not alone. There are two of us. No matter how much pain or pressure you apply…We'll survive it. There are two of us. We'll be okay."

"Our hands are clasped. Don't ever…let go."

"**Seimei!"**

_That's right. I still have Natsuo. We still have our bond. The bond of ZERO._

"Don't call me by name." Seimei, said, his icy violet eyes narrowing dangerously.

"**Aoyagi Seimei."**

"**We control that name."**

Natsuo continued, commanding his mastery of wordspell to control the enemy. Just as he always does. My Sentouki….

"Stop it…" the eldest Aoyagi growled, beginning to raise his voice.

"We won't stop."

"**We will control you. We will capture…Aoyagi Semei."**

Natsuo and I…We will capture him together. We, as Zero can do this. My Sentouki shall capture this strayed sacrifice to crush his black wings.

"Knock it off. Don't…touch me…with your dirty little hands." The man's cat ears began to flatten themselves against his hair.

"**We will control you…with the power of Zero.**

**ON YOUR KNEES!"**

Natsuo clasped Yoji's hand tighter, gripping it until his knuckles grew white. Yes, that was it, they could never be broken apart…Nothing could break their bond.

"No!"

"**CRUMBLE! ON YOUR KNEES!!**

**-**

Yoji started awake. It was the same every night since they had seen Seimei at the school…Every night be had relived the nightmare of being crushed by the eldest Aoyagi's lacerating words, cutting through his bond with Natsuo, pulling them apart from each other. Attempting to calm his uneven breath, Yoji glanced over at his sleeping bond mate. The maroon haired boy was facing Yoji, his wavy hair pooling out along the pillows towards the panting Sacrifice. Forcing himself to close eyes, the cat-eared boy reached out to take Natsuo's hand lying on the bed between them.

When his fingertips met the other cat eared boy's a sudden feeling of calm descended upon him. The bond would protect them. This link between them would forever keep them together. Yet, even as the closeness of the bond assured him this, Yoji couldn't help but think that it wasn't true. Bonds could be broken easily. Seimei had proved that with his dealings with Soubi. The older Aoyagi had proved that bonds were nothing but a tool for battle, and that they could be broken at any time if one so chose. With just a few words casually slipping from his mouth, Seimei had nearly destroyed Yoji. He had nearly destroyed Zero. Ripping and tearing at their bond with corrosive words.

Despite that, with all of that pressure pulling them apart, Natsuo had stood strong, holding them together as a Sentouki should. The Sentouki was there, protecting him from the barbed words dancing playfully out of the man's mouth. He had done nothing. As a sacrifice he should have withstood Seimei's words, fighting alongside Natsuo. Instead he has been trying to keep his own head above the edges of the words. He could feel the shame tainting him, eating away at his conscious mind.

'_Through all of that, I just stood there, trying not to crumble to my knees before that man. I was so pathetic,'_ biting his lip, the sacrifice returned his gaze to Natsuo. The cat-eared boy could feel the bond, he could even see the bond, but thinking about it he realized just how frail it really was. Connecting the two of them, yet holding them apart. It intertwined the life lines of two halves of a person, while still keeping them apart in the form of two different people. The bond was strong like piano wire, yet brittle at the same time, barely keeping the pair together. What in truth was their bond? Something would shatter it eventually…time erodes everything, taking pieces of people and feelings with it.

'_Does Natsuo really want to keep me?'_

The sacrifice pulled the other boy's hand closer to his face before dusting a light kiss on the back of Natsuo's pale hand.

'_When I'm so imperfect for him?'_

0==0

Lips touched his hand delicately, hovering over the skin that was enveloped in a pocket of warmth. The Sentouki knew it was Yoji, clinging to him as the mint haired boy always had during their restful sleep. However, the strength of the other boy's hold slightly alarmed him. Warmth spread from the contact, yet another more sinister chill ran through the line of their bond. Like static, it fizzled down their bond, shocking the Sentouki's end in small waves, each wave getting steadily stronger. Trying to keep his breathing calm and steady, Natsuo continued to fake sleep, hoping to find answers from Yoji easier that way.

As the Sentouki lay there, he soon found out that he wouldn't be getting any dialogue out of the other boy. The only hint that he got from his distressed partner was the soundless plea for attention on his hand. He knew that there had been something amiss with his sacrifice for the past few days but upon questioning the maroon-haired boy had been unable to receive any information on the subject. Every time that Natsuo had brought it up, the other had just changed the subject. The lack of sound hung over the pair, engulfing them both….silence slowly beginning to suffocate them. After he received no hints from his partner, Natsuo decided it was time to get answers the more direct way.

Opening his charcoal eye, the cat-eared boy met the haunted look in his bond mate's eyes squarely with his own. Seeing Natsuo's eyes open abruptly, Yoji knew that he had been caught. The mint haired boy knew that he would have to keep up his façade, keep the nagging truth that was slowly eroding the sacrifice's mind away from his other half.

"What are you doing up Yoji?" Natsuo inquired, trying to keep the overpowering waves of distress from his bond from alarming him. The other just stared blankly at him, hoping desperately that the maroon-haired Sentouki would just drop the subject he had been harassing him about. Yet, after seeing the look in his partner's eye, the violet eyed boy knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the subject.

"Oh nothing," Yoji purred hoarsely, "I just couldn't sleep that's all." His bond mate's eye narrowed with disbelief, and before Yoji could escape, Natsuo had clasped his free arm around his sacrifice's neck. Using this as leverage, the one-eyed boy pulled himself to his upset half. The mint haired boy stiffened at the contact before relaxing slowly as the other's nimble fingers threaded through the hair at the base of his neck.

'_He's keeping something from me again.'_ the Sentouki thought bitterly.

"Well, why couldn't you sleep hmm? Were to you too busy," Natsuo paused raising a suggestive eyebrow, "staring at my sleeping face?" Noticing the teasing tone in his partner's voice, the other played along sleepily.

"Why yes actually. I just needed to see you after…" realizing he had stepped right into the other's word trap; Yoji internally kicked himself, quickly improvising his sentence to appease the one-eyed boy, "having such a wonderful dream about you!" Hearing the slight pause and feeling the tensing beneath his fingertips, Natsuo knew that he had found the source of the , knowing he had to cover his story more believable to keep the other boy's suspicions at bay, decided to add some of his characteristic teasing to his comment. Reaching up to Natsuo's furred ear, the violet-eyed boy smirked before giving the maroon ear a soft tug. "These were gone, so I just had to make sure that they were still here…Can't have anyone but me having them now can I?"

_'So it was a dream was it?'_

Heat slowly crawled across his cheeks, and to his annoyance, a slight blush dusted Natsuo's pale cheeks. Here he was trying to get answers and Yoji's flirting was making him forget about his whole mission. Scowling, the maroon-haired boy poked his partner in the ribs, hoping to fend the other's pleasing, but slightly less important flirting off. Noticing Natsuo's obvious brush-off, and the sharp jab in his side, Yoji began to pout, all the while sincerely hoping that his bond mate would drop the previous object of discussion. Despite the mint-haired boy's best acting, he could not prevent his nervousness and fear from transmitting to Natsuo through the bond of Zero…The sentouki's eyebrows raised at the other's pouting face and the pulse of uneasiness, before he pulled Yoji a bit closer.

"So, if this dream was so pleasant, why did you feel the need..." Natsuo mumbled, "to stare at me for such a long time, clinging to my hand in such a way?" The mint-haired boy tensed under Natsuo's arms, before quickly averting his eyes to the pillow. The one-eyed boy frowned slightly at his sacrifice's reaction, and he reached a hand up to bury his fingers in Yoji's wild green hair. Another pulse of discomfort raced along their bond, running up the one-eyed cat boy's spine. When it finally stopped inducing tingles, the maroon-haired boy, pulled away from Yoji to get some serious answers. Despite his want to keep his fingers buried in the other's hair, the maroon-haired boy removed his fingers and rested his hand upon Yoji's shoulder blades.

"What was your dream about?" he prompted.

Yoji lips spoke no words, and his ashamed gaze continued to score into the pillow that they shared. Narrowing his eye, Natsuo turned the other's chin so that his violet eyes would be facing his own.

"Was it about…" the Sentouki paused, his irritated expression melting into one of concern, "our last battle? With Aoyagi Seimei?"

0==0

The mint-haired sacrifice looked at his Sentouki, hoping that the other would just let it go. Leave the violet-eyed boy alone, giving him time to recover, and regain trust in the bond that was so tightly wound about his heart. However, upon looking closer into the eye of his bond mate, Yoji realized that denial would get him nowhere. With shame burning in his stomach, the mint-haired boy nodded.

'_His words were ripping into us. Tearing apart Zero. Taking you away from me.' _Yoji thought.

Natsuo knew that something had been bothering the usually spunky boy, and he had yet to understand what had bothered the other about their previous battle. Even after Soubi had defeated the pair, Yoji had never acted this way before…

"What was so bad about the battle? I know I let his wordspells get to you in the beginning, but," the one-eyed boy paused, trying to find something that may have made his sacrifice mad. What had he done to fail him? It must have been something he did…If only Natsuo could discover what his fault was so that we might be able to correct it. Natsuo's eyebrows nestled down out of his crazy bangs to rest in uneasy lines across his forehead. With his expression came the tell-tale swishing of the cat-eared boy's maroon tail, signaling the sentouki's obvious distress. Hearing the notes of confusion in his sentouki's voice a look of surprise flitted across Yoji's pained face.

"Natsuo," Yoji choked out, "it wasn't you…It was me." Before he could open his mouth to interrupt, his bond mate placed a delicate finger over Natsuo's pursed lips.

"I couldn't endure…I faltered, allowing those vile words to get to me.

I didn't even resist. I couldn't resist.

In the end, I was no better than Ritsuka used to be with Soubi.  
Useless. Unable to give you the proper orders required of that spell battle.

Instead I just let you take control.

You had to protect our bond, without me.

I-I'm…really sorry, Natsuo."

As these words of self-hatred and apology spilled from Yoji's mouth, Natsuo stared on in amazement. Had he really thought that this was his entire fault? As Zero, they had been both caught off guard; neither of them had really expected the elder Aoyagi boy to be so hateful…his words so full of poison. His surprised gaze melting into one of tenderness, Natsuo returned his fingers to his partner's mint tresses, hoping that the closeness of the bond would help console Yoji. Yet, as he did this, Yoji removed his arms from around his Sentouki, and placed them against the other boy's chest. No longer able to face Natsuo's gaze, the cat-eared boy buried his face in the cloth of Natsuo's night shirt.

"Yoji…"

"That man…that man had tried to sever the bond Natsuo. He tried to destroy Zero. He tried to destroy us." The sacrifice murmured turning his violet eyes back up to Natsuo, fearing rejection more than anything.

Seeing the other boy's pain twisted gaze, Natsuo frowned slightly and lifted the other's chin upwards before catching Yoji's lips in his own. Feeling their bond hum happily at the much needed contact, Yoji pressed his lips further into Natsuo's pleading for more affection. Right now, the mint-haired boy needed reassurance from his Sentouki more than anything. Removing his hands from Natsuo's chest, Yoji reached up to wrap his arms around the other's neck, pressing the other's eager lips harder into his. Natsuo responded positively to this, pulling the violet-eyed boy closer. Feeling a bit lightheaded from the lack of full lung capacity, Yoji hesitantly pulled back, nervous for his bond mate's answer.

"Don't you ever think that again Yoji. We are Zero, and we shall endure. That battle...was something that caught us both off guard," Natsuo gasped, attempting to take in as much air as he could before Yoji could attempt to asphyxiate him again. "So, don't worry about that anymore…" A slight blush dusted his cheeks, and Yoji could feel the one-eyed boy's hands moving to rest on his hips. Grinning suggestively, the violet-eyed boy rushed into another kiss, pushing into Natsuo's lips aggressively. The maroon-haired boy blinked in surprise before his mind melted in the wake of his bond mate's rough kiss.

Yoji clung fiercely to Natsuo, and before long, he had the maroon-haired boy beneath his own body. Their bodies intertwined, making them feel whole, once again their bond repairing itself, pulling Sentouki and sacrifice back together. Colors danced behind Natsuo's eyes, and before he knew it, he was helplessly returning the insistent pushing of his lips to Yoji. Comfort soon became the last thing on each of their minds, and soon their innocent kiss turned into a battle between them. A fight of dominance within their passionate joining…

As the heat of their passion rose, the fingers that they each had in each other's hair tangled deeper, tugging slightly. A rude, but silent way of demanding more attention from the other's burning body. Sometime after the initial burst of passion, Yoji realized that he had yet to reassure the one-eyed Sentouki of his intentions. Feeling slight disappointment, the violet-eyed pulled away, leaving Natsuo dazed. As Yoji pulled away, Natsuo gave him a lazy smirk.

"Well that's one fine way to asphyxiate someone, Yoji," the maroon-haired boy laughed, threading his finger's deeper into the other's mint green tresses. The mint-haired boy remained on top of his Sentouki, savoring the heat that rushed off the other's body that was too often out of reach during the day. His breaths came in short gasps, puffing up to make contact with Yoji's hovering face. Taking his slender fingers from Natsuo's tangled hair, the sacrifice reached up to tug teasingly on the other boy's cat ear. He ran a finger over the edge of it, and as he did this Natsuo's face colored slightly.

"You realize, Natsuo,

That I'm never going to give you to anyone else.

And these epitomes of innocence of yours…"

Yoji leaned in closer to the twitching maroon ear before whispering…

"Shall be mine. And no one else's…"

With his burning face blending in with his hair, Natsuo smirked and said,

"I wouldn't dream of giving them to anyone else…"

0==0

Soon after stirring from his spot next to Ritsuka in the bed, the blonde Sentouki quietly crept out of the bedroom. Slowly shutting the door behind him, Soubi silently hoped that there was a nearby coffee maker in the room, and that we wouldn't have to bother the bratty Nagisa over it…Not finding one in the adjoining room, Soubi decided to take a peek in at the Zero pair to see if they had woken up yet. Maybe if he was lucky he could get some directions to a coffee maker from the two. Opening the door to their room slowly, Soubi popped his head into the dim bedroom. What he saw however were not awake Zero boys, but the two sleeping boys intertwined with each other within the blankets. Despite lacking most of their clothing that was strewn about within the bedding, the blond confirmed that their twitching cat-ears were still intact.

Smirking slightly at the sight, Soubi closed the door again and began to stalk back to his room with Ristuka hoping that maybe he could get a few more minutes of shut-eye before the Zero boys woke up and wreaked havoc. But, even as he left, he couldn't help but wonder, if those two had already gone so far without losing their ears…what all had happened in his bed when he wasn't there? Feeling a slight chill shoot up his spine, Soubi promised himself to rewash the bedding just to be sure…With as lewd as the boys were in public, who knew what they did when they were alone, even when they were on someone else's bed...0.o

**A/N: So...what did you think? 0.o Gomenasai everybody ^.^ For those of you waiting for my other stories to be updated I apologize sincerely…I was in the middle of writing them when these one-shots popped into my head . So, yeah sorry about that…**

**As far as mood music...well...X3 **_**Backside of a TV **_** from the Persona 4 CD was the main music of choice ;3**

**I'm pretty sure someone has already finished a fanfic sort of like this already, and I was not trying to copy whoever did that fic! I just wanted to write some cat-eared fluff ;3 (Sorry Soubi, you got locked out of this one for once…heheh you were too busy freaking out about Seimei and being unfaithful at the moment, so you don't get to get in on the fluff X3 )**

**0.o Oh crap…this is basically a reverse situation of Bruises…One of the Zero boys having series issues of self-hate ;3 Heheh…I suppose I'll have to get better at thinking of different things neh?**

**Oh, yeah, for the battle sequence I used the exact dialogue from the English release of Loveless vol 8, so I'm giving credit to the translators and Yun Kouga on that part . I just added the imagery :D**

**Hmmm I'm still unsure if I kept them in character . So, on that note I apologize for any outrageous OOCness you may find…: D**

**Thanks for reading! Please review! ;3**


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